The whole persona and the very appearance on the scene of Emmanuel Macron was a manipulation, as discussed in ESR18: Lada Ray French Election Predictions. The relentless pre-election compromising of various promising candidates, such as Fillon and Le Pen, was also a manipulation. Everything was designed to steer voters in one direction: towards Macron, or towards not voting for anyone, which would have still worked out in Macron’s favor.

There is no way of denying: French people are deeply dissatisfied with the status quo and most of their candidates.